I'm inclined to think there are 2 actual copies. But there is not easy way to tell. If I ask Aperture to output the 3 different versions.. then of course it outputs hi res versions and they are all comparable in size. Prior to that 2 are text files.

yeah, on my iPhone 4 i can see two separate images that are both over 1 MB (HDR 2 MB). and, on my photos i think the HDR is making a good difference (at least inside so far). for example, the regular version of this photo was quite dark where the chairs are located and the HDR version brings that out -- this is a lab i taught in today:

It doesn't do the HDR using sidecar data. It actually processes the photo right there in the camera and makes a new file. If you don't have it set to delete the "source" file, it keeps two full size files. So yeah, it would double the amount of space you're using if you don't delete the dupes.

Here's an HDR of the girl cat at my work:

It tends to make the images relatively flat, but it does a decent job in certain situations. I've been really annoyed a few times when I left it on by accident and had what could have been a decent little pic ruined by the effect.

It uses HDR methodology (taking 3 exposures of an image to create a single image), but typically people expect a color-rich image when you say HDR. The iPhone's HDR ability simply adjusts the exposure to make highlights and shadows look better.

Technically they're correct, but I think they should just call it something like "photo fix" or similar...

The image below is the regular photo. As you can see, the wood table is dark, the red stripes on the right side of the can are barely visible, etc.

Now here is the HDR version of the photo. You can see the stripes, the wood is lighter, you can see the reflection of the mouse on the can of soda, and you can barely see the Apple logo on the mouse. The image is lightened up overall. Quite frankly, I could do better adjustments using iPhoto's rather limited editing tools, let alone Photoshop.

For the average user, it's probably a really useful feature, but for me, it's a let-down.

Gotta agree -- not sure exactly how high expectations should be with an "HDR" feature that doesn't offer any settings whatsoever. This should help the average Joe Photographer but I can't see expecting something this basic producing the same results as a more professional eye tweaking exposures with more flexible software ...

I'd think you'd have not very many problems fooling-around with the HDR image in Photoshop -- my understanding is that the issue is the limited exposure capabilities of the chip inside a camera more than Photoshop's gamut =)

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